Blog

April 9, 2018

World Health Day

Saturday the 7th of April was World Health Day, a global awareness day celebrated every year under the sponsorship of the World Health Organisation. This year is the 70th anniversary, and WHO is calling on all world leaders to commit to concrete steps to advance the health of all people. This means ensuring that everyone, everywhere can access essential quality health services without facing financial hardship.

Here at RUM we care very deeply for the health of all Australians, and access to health services is incredibly important. In Australia, we are very lucky to have a health system that is affordable and can help us all reach our optimal health. A health service Australians also have at their use is the Return Unwanted Medicines initiative, which allows Australians to safely dispose of medicines.

With the ability for us to access most of the medicines we need to improve our health, the issue then becomes how do we dispose of them. As we know, throwing medicines in the household rubbish or down the drain is incredibly damaging to the environment, and can also find its way into the wrong hands such as children or household pets.

The correct way to dispose of medicines properly is to follow the three simple steps of:

READ: Go to the areas in your home where you store medicines. Read the labels, check expiry dates and review all medicines. Consider whether you actually need them.

REMOVE: Remove all expired and unwanted medicines from your home medicine area and place them in a bag or container. If the medicine comes in a cardboard box, that can be recycled separately.

RETURN: Return your expired and unwanted medicines to your local pharmacy.  Your pharmacist will put them in a secure bin for safe disposal. Prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, herbal or complementary supplements, gels, liquids, creams and veterinary medicines can all be disposed of in a designated The RUM Project bin.

Although Australia is very privileged with their health access, there are other countries around the world that don’t have the same access. That’s why WHO is determined for all countries to have access to essential quality health services without facing financial hardship.

To find out more or how you can get involved, click here.

 

The Return of Unwanted Medicines Project is a free service that offers a way to dispose of unwanted or expired medicines safely and conveniently at your local community pharmacy. Find out more about the service here.

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